Step 5: Debug with Guino

Step 6: Make an enclosure

To make the enclosure I did the following steps: Laser cut the acrylic plate based illustrator template found here Drill a hole in the enclos...

This project is a part of experiments done while doing an artist in residence at Instructables. You can see the other projects here.

Creating emergent patterns that can be converted into sounds fascinates me. So this is my first experiment in building an arduino platform for creating such patterns. This version uses a Gameduino as its sound processor and uses particles that bounces around on a led matrix as the interactive sound generators. You can add more particles by pressing the joystick down for two seconds and the joystick serves as a drawing pen to create elements for the particles to bounce on.

As you can see in the video the code is still a little crude and only the first proof of concept for the platform.

Of similar projects I would recommend you look into: Bloom an iPhone app made by brian Eno and Otomata by earslap.

The electronics can be done with basic soldering tools. The enclosure was made with a laser cutting some acrylics and a drillpress to make holes in the wooden box

Step 2: Mount the led matrix

Adafruit has made a toturial for how to wire up the led matrix. You can find it here. Please refer to how I wired it up in diagram in step 1. If you are going to wire it up according to the Adafruit toturial (see the picture with the jumper wires), then Red = 5v, Black = Ground, White = Pin3, Orange = pin4, Yellow = pin5.

If you want to use your own custom pins you should change this section in the code:

Firstly, there is a machine designed for cutting square holes for mortise and tenon joints. Imagine a drill bit surrounded by four chisels, that's basically it. The hole will be perfectly square.

Secondly, a far more home-friendly option. Drill a hole, the diameter of which should match the length of the side of the square you wish to drill. Then proceed to square it off using a sharp chisel. It's extremely easy to do, especially with the thicknesses of wood you are using here. In thin wood the results will be very good, though not as good as can be achieved with a mortiser as described above. In thicker stock, the chisel has a habit of wandering, so results will be less good with the second method. The first method is largely unaffected.

have you messed around with giving each particle to its own note, which is triggered every time it hits a surface? Then you could pick out a bunch of notes from one chord and have a kind of generative arpeggiated chord played out when the particles are bouncing around. Also check out the pentatonic scale: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentatonic_scale tends to sound pretty good no mater what you do with it.

About This Instructable

Bio:IMPORTANT: Please do not message me personally with technical questions. Use the comments in the respective instructables. I really love sharing and helping people makes much more sense in a shared sp...read more »